The film was but on an extreme fast track. Director X and Jackson were first announced to be attached to the film last December, with Mitchell and other key casting announcements announced in January, along with the speedy June 2018 release date. Production just recently wrapped in Atlanta.
Jackson will lead the film as Youngblood Priest, with Mitchell set to co-star Eddie, Lex Scott Davis as Georgia, Michael K. Williams as Scatter, Andrea Londo as Cynthia, Allen Maldonado as Litty, Jacob Ming-Trent as Fat Freddy and Omar Chapparo as Adalberto.
Future has curated the soundtrack and is producing with Joel Silver and Steven R. Shore, the son of the original film’s producer Sig Shore, will be an executive producer with Matthew Hirsch, Hal Sadoff and Aaron Ausch. Alex Tse is writing the script.
The original film, which was directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. starred Ron O’Neal as Youngblood Priest, a cocaine dealer trying to get out of the business, and centers on him securing one last deal before getting out. It resulted in two sequels, Super Fly T.N.T. and The Return of Superfly.
Parks, Jr.’s father (Gordon Parks), directed Shaft, which is considered the staple film in blaxploitation genre that took that generation by storm. The original Super Fly’s soundtrack, written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, was even more successful than the film, outgrossing its movie counterpart.
The film itself, now a cult classic, did garner criticism because of its portrayal of black people and drugs.
Director X, whose real name is Julien Christian Lutz, is an accomplished music video director, doing work for the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. His feature directorial debut was the Canadian drama film, Across the Line, which starred Stephan James.
This Super Fly remake comes as there is a booming development market for blaxploitation remakes. Kylie Bunbury is starring in a Get Christie Love TV series for ABC, Meagan Good is starring in a Foxy Brown series for Hulu, Jessie T. Usher is starring in an Untitled Shaft reboot and Misha Green is writing a Cleopatra Jones film remake — just to name a few.
